Pokémon GO is all the rage these days, even when the game hasn't officially launched in all markets, so more than a handful of people know about the battery drain problem plaguing the game. As a Pokémon GO player himself, SparkFun user NPoole knows how pesky losing battery at crucial moments can be so he came up with a solution: a battery-charging Pokédex smartphone case.
By association, this means that any battery-charging smartphone case will take care of Pokémon GO's battery issue. But, do they look like a Pokédex? Faced with the choice of using a standard charging case or one that resembles a Pokédex, any self-respecting Pokémon fan will surely choose the latter.
NPoole calls his charging smartphone case the Battery Pack Pokédex. It looks like the Kanto region Pokédex and can augment battery life with an additional 2,600 mAh. That's even more than the battery capacity some smartphones have!
The SparkFun user's charging smartphone case was particularly fitted for a Samsung Galaxy S4 but the design can be tweaked to suit other smartphone models. The case itself was 3D-printed in classic Pokédex red and was polished with acetone for high sheen.
NPoole used a lithium cell, which connects through a USB microB plug, to provide backup power. He also added LEDs to the Battery Pack Pokédex to further mimic the original design of the Kanto Pokédex. After the components were installed, there's room leftover to add batteries, cooling fans and the like to upgrade the charging smartphone case, if the user wanted to.
Having a lot of juice is important for every Pokémon GO player because you just don't know sometimes where the game will take you and when that elusive Pokémon will appear. The game requires significant battery use on its own so an even bigger drain should be expected if a player is using other apps, like Ingress, to help them find Pokémon to catch.
Those looking to build their own Battery Pack Pokédex can download NPoole's files via GitHub.
In the United States alone, Pokémon GO is enjoying so much popularity that it has now overtaken Twitter in the number of average daily users on Android devices. The mobile game is rolling out slowly in other countries, including Japan, which is considered the home of the Pokémon franchise. Apparently, server problems delayed Pokémon GO's Japanese release.
According to Niantic's John Hanke, the company is working with its partners in Japan to ensure the country's servers will be able to keep up with the demand once Pokémon GO goes live there.
